EASTER: Beautiful Exchange

Transcription

1 EASTER: Beautiful Exchange USING THIS SERMON DISCUSSION GUIDE Ø This Sermon Discussion Guide is only a tool to aid you in meeting the needs of your group. For most groups, there are too many questions to answer in one session together. After considering the needs of your group, you may choose one of the following options: s one section of questions s one or two questions from each section Ø Feel free to adapt the format to meet the needs of your group. If your group is mature and wants to dig deeper, add Scripture and ask suitable questions. Remember that this is only a guide. Ø Personal application is key to everyone s growth and should be included in every discussion. When asked how he or she intends to apply a certain principle a group member may say, I need to spend more time in the Bible and in prayer. It is important for you to help group members make applications that are more specific and commit to a specific plan of action by asking, for example, How are you going to begin? An example is to get up 30 minutes earlier each morning, spending 15 minutes reading the Bible and 10 minutes in prayer. Encourage each group member to be accountable to the group for personal progress at the next meeting. Ø As the leader your goal is to help bring the group into a stimulating discussion that helps the members recognize their need for personal life change. Ultimately you want them to be willing to commit to change with accountability to the group. Accountability helps us to persevere in our commitments and achieve the blessings of success. Page 1 of 7

2 INTRODUCTION We have come together to celebrate and proclaim the reality of a resurrected savior! This is the reality that separates faith in Jesus from every other belief system in history v The fact that Jesus is the LIVING GOD! [1 John 1:9-10] God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. v When Jesus came to earth, He did so with a clear mission statement. He was focused, intentional and pointed toward the goal The Cross and the Resurrection. Page 2 of 7

3 v People experience tragedy and they say God did this, or God allowed this when in reality God does not exchange the whole for the broken, or the lovely for the tragic. No! He is the author of the love and life and healing and wholeness. Jesus said,.. I have come that they might experience life and life to the fullest! The Easter Story doesn t begin with the Sunday morning resurrection, or the Friday afternoon crucifixion, the plan of redemption & God s desire to reconnect broken people with himself, pre- dates human history / The Beautiful exchange is an eternal plan & God s love being expressed through that plan is revealed in the passion of Cross and the power of the resurrection! JESUS intentionally became, so that I, by grace could become Page 3 of 7

4 KEY SCRIPTURE [1 Corinthians 15] Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I [Continue 1 Corinthians 15] preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. It is this Good News that saves you! I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead? For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. But in fact, CHRIST HAS BEEN RAISED FROM THE DEAD! Page 4 of 7

5 [Isaiah 53:6] All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on Jesus the sins of us all. This is the exchange! When Jesus started his public ministry at the age of 30, he launched it by heading into a desert to fast for 40 days and to pray. Scripture tells us that when he got done he returned in the power of the Spirit So he shows up in his hometown and as was His practice, he went to church = synagogue on the Sabbath. Now a familiar practice in the Jewish synagogue would be to have various people (not just the priest) come forward to read from the Torah the Holy Scriptures. There would be one reading from the law and one from the prophets it just so happens that as Jesus walks to the front they take the scroll from the prophet Isaiah and they had it to him now the beauty, the power, supernatural timing of this moment is the fact that he is getting ready to read a prophecy about himself that was written 700 years before he reads it and as he opens the scroll he reads.. [Luke 4: 18-22] The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will Page 5 of 7

6 [Continue Luke 4:18-22] 19 and that the time of the LORD s favor has come. 20 He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. 21 Then he began to speak to them. The Scripture you ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day! 22 Everyone spoke well of him and was amazed A crown of beauty instead of Ashes The oil / perfume of Joy instead of despair A garment or covering of praise instead of depression Death for life! Healing for disease, forgiveness for sin, direction to the lost and clarity to the confused! Rescue to those headed for destruction. THIS IS THE EXCHANGE! Conclusion Today, we want you to see and hear the resurrection, beautiful exchange message as it s played out in real life. The Risen Christ that we worship is not a concept or a doctrine; it s not the creed of an organized religion. WE ARE CELEBRATING RESSURECTION POWER & Page 6 of 7

7 [Conclusion Continued] NEW LIFE that rescues, restores and changes lives in the most personal and practical ways imaginable. Small Group Questions 1. What sets Christianity apart from every other religion? (to the Small Group Leader, focus on the Resurrection) 2. Describe the "Greatest Exchange" in your life. 3. What are some areas that God is still working on in you? In other words, some things He's still exchanging? 4. "Jesus intentionally became so that I, by grace, could become." - If you could fill in the blanks, what are some of the specific things you would write? 5. In what ways has your story, or could your story, paint a picture of God's grace for people far from God? Page 7 of 7